The ecological footprint left by a congress has long been an important issue for congress organizers and congress destinations world-wide. For a long time now, the Vienna Tourist Board's Vienna Convention Bureau (VCB) has advocated sustainability and responsible treatment of the environment. Now Nikolaus Berlakovich, Austria's Minister for the Environment, has awarded the VCB the Austrian Green Meetings EcoLogo. This means that the bureau is now licensed to certify as Green Meetings conferences whose organizers take climate protection, regional value-added and social compatibility into account.

"Congresses of any size make an impact on the environment, whether it be due to their energy consumption, waste production, or CO₂ emissions. The Vienna Convention Bureau has set itself the task of raising awareness of sustainable action in the conference industry, and supports initiatives and projects involving the themes of green meetings, sustainability and corporate social responsibility. As a licensee of the Austrian EcoLogo, we are not only pointing the way, but also aiming to enhance the competitiveness of Vienna as a congress city in the long term," explains Christian Mutschlechner, Director of the Vienna Convention Bureau.

The Green Meetings EcoLogo was created in the year 2009 by the Austrian Ministry of Life and the Consumers' Association of Austria. In order to obtain certification, an organizer needs a licensee such as the Vienna Convention Bureau who can not only handle the formal certification process, but is also bound by strict environmental protection regulations.

Additional benefit in the long term

Karin Stattmann is the person responsible for handling the certification process through the Vienna Convention Bureau (tel.: +43–1–211 14-528, e-mail: karin.stattmann@vienna.info). Karin is the point of contact for all congress organizers wishing to have their events in Vienna certified as Green Meetings. "We have clearly seen the steadily growing interest of customers, and this will result in other Vienna providers, such as hotels, congress centers and PCOs, qualifying as certification bodies in order to remain competitive," predicts Karin. She is also quick to point out another aspect: "The know-how which international customers gain as a result of the certification process in Vienna is also an excellent basis on which to handle their events abroad in line with the same criteria, thus applying the principles of the Austrian Green Meeting certificate. This additional benefit should not be underestimated - in the long term it can only reinforce the sustainability effect."

Besides the Vienna Convention Bureau, the following companies in Vienna are also certification bodies for Green Meetings:

Austropa Interconvention
RAM Consulting
Hannah's Plan
Hotel Modul